


Daymares Never Leave

by NightingaleLost



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fantrolls, Gen, Horror, Nightmares/Daymares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 05:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/731766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightingaleLost/pseuds/NightingaleLost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Persef has a daymare, and turns to the only person he has for comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daymares Never Leave

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during the Isolation, or when Deacon has left on his trip.

***

There was a familiar weight as his back, warm and comforting. Persef knew who it belonged to but something kept him from turning around to face him, though he desperately wanted to. Instead he sighed, leaning back into the comfortable presence as a deep calm permeated though his body. The Deacon behind him said nothing, only mimicked his actions and leaned into him too.

There was something slightly off about this but Persef tried to push it from his head. It had felt like so long since he had been close to his friend, ever since he had...had...had done what?

Persef couldn't remember.

An uneasy feeling swept through him at the realization that he couldn't quite remember _something_ about Deacon, and he reached back, feeling for the other's hand as reassurance. He entangled with warm fingers with a sigh, then hissed as Deacon's hand suddenly turned icy and cold, like the temperature had been sucked out of it in a vacuum. He drew back, whirling around to stare at the purpleblood's back. The other was slumped forward, unmoving and still; Persef's heart dropped in his chest as he reached forward with a shaking hand, resting it on Deacon's shoulder with a wince. He was cold everywhere, freezing as if had been encased in a block of ice. Like he was...

“Deacon...?”

The other turned around, greeting him with a smile. Persef choked down the horrified cry in his throat, flinching back. “Hey, Persef. Aren't you glad to see me?”

Deacon was...he was ruined, his hands coated in blood, purple running in rivulets from the gaping holes of his missing eyes as if he had gouged them out with his own claws. His teeth were bared in a too-wide grin, stretching from ear to ear and cracked as if his skin were dried clay.

He moved closer to the stricken Persef. “Aren't you glad to see me.” He repeated, his voice a sibilant hiss. “Didn't you want me back after you drove me away?”

Persef shook his head rapidly, trying to move away. “N-no! You're not him!” Deacon was...he was gone, he remembered. He had left, sweeps ago, without a trace because Persef had failed him. Failed as a moirail and as a friend, and caused him to leave forever.

The other's grin twisted into a snarl, fresh blood dripping as it scowled furiously. “Denying me...failing me again, Persef, when are you gonna learn! When are you going to stop being such a fucking disappointment?!”

The words lanced through him, and Persef's hands clenched by his chest. “I didn't mean to! I tried! You never told me anything was wrong!”

“Everything was wrong, you worthless, _spineless_ piece of shit, everything about you! Lowblood trash, pathetic, stupid Persef!” Deacon was howling now, teeth flashing as he drew closer and closer and Persef couldn't get away fast enough. “Sick of being around all the fucking time, you couldn't even take care of yourself, why _wouldn't_ I leave!”

“I-”

“Weak and useless, always caught up in your own shit, what did you think was going to happen?!” With every word, Persef shrank back, growing smaller and smaller until it seemed Deacon was a hundred feet tall, looming over him. His shrieks became roaring howls and Persef clapped his hands over his ears, trying to drown out the painful sounds.

“I couldn't stand having you around, and you being my moirail? HA! _AS IF_!!” Deacon laughed, and Persef screamed as pain lanced through his ears.

“I'm never coming back and it's your fault! Do you hear me, it's _all your FAULT_!” The last word was a howl, and the ground beneath Deacon shattered, dropping into a black abyss below. Deacon tumbled back, screeching as he fell, barely managing to catch himself on the edge of the abyss where Persef stared in horror. Cracks appeared in the dead skin of his arms as he clawed at the ground, widening with each passing half second he tried to get up, and Persef snatched his feet back from where they lay five feet from Deacon's gnashing fangs.

A shriek was pouring from the purpleblood's mouth, angry and pained and terrified all at once, booming all around them as Deacon sank another foot. Tears gathered in the corners of Persef's eyes as he shot to his feet. “W-wait!” He lunged forward, trying to grab him from the edge but he could do nothing, he was too small to pull hm back and Deacon was sinking even faster.

“No, Deacon, wai-” His panicked cry cut off in a gasp as the other lunged forward one last time, torn mouth opening in a huge circle to descend on his head. They came down and closer and—

*

Persef woke up with a scream, thrashing in the suffocating embrace of his sheets. He threw them off as fast as he could, his claws ripping through them in places as he curled on his bed, chest heaving in painful gasps. The world was blurred through teal-colored tears and he scrambled off the mattress, almost colliding with the wall on the other side. He could still feel the pinpricks of teeth as they sank through his neck and back and he shuddered, feeling frozen down to his core.

He was already stumbling toward the front of the room, shaking fingers throwing on clothing as best as they could before he was out into the short hallway, hand on the doorknob to his hive before he knew it. Persef threw it open, more tears rushing to his face as the blinding Alternian sun cut through the curtain of his hair. He felt the heat rising from the ground through his feet, hot enough to burn and scar if he stayed too long but he was already on his way, his legs taking him on the familiar path to the only place he knew besides his own hive.

Thankfully it was close and soon the burning under his feet faded as he stepped into the cool darkness of Aiidas' cave. The light of day had left him temporarily blind, and he stumbled forward, hands reaching out in hopes of striking something. There was a soft growl from within and he suddenly came across warm fur, latching onto it as the three-headed lusus led him inside.

He was blinking spots out of his eyes as they came across Aiidas, walking toward them from across the floor as if he had been waiting for them all along.

“Aiidas!” Persef could have almost cried from relief at the sight of the seadweller, rushing forward to embrace him eagerly. Arms came around him and he shuddered, feeling the tension of the dream fade every so slightly.

“What's wrong Persef?” He felt a hand stroke through his hair and he tightened his grip around the other. “Another daymare?”

At his nod, Aiidas led him to a chair, pulling him gently onto his lap and resuming his petting. Persef gave a shaky sigh. “Deacon again...”

“Mmm.” There was a silence before Aiidas traced a claw around the base of one horn. “You haven't been around in a bit. You know I keep the dreams away, Persef. Do you ever dream around me?” Persef shook his head and the seadweller nodded slowly. “See, as long as you're around like you're supposed to, all of these daymares will go away.”

“He said I was worthless...and weak.”

“The truth can't be changed so easily, Persef, no matter how hard you try.” He cupped Persef's head in his hands, looking down at him benignly. “But that's why I'm here.” Aiidas pulled Persef close again, brushing the hair from his face. “He might have left you, but I won't. You know I'll never leave you.”

Persef clutched on just a bit tighter and Aiidas bent down, laying a kiss on his forehead. “Go to sleep, Persef; you are safe from him here.”

The tealblood sighed, his eyes closing. The stress of the daymare faded as fingers continuously stroked through his hair and it wasn't long before he fell asleep again.

He did not dream.

***


End file.
